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a 


GIFT   OF 
Class    of    1887 


Verses  and  Illustrations  •— - 

By  "Robert  WtUiams  Wood. 

"How  ToTell  The  Birds  Trom  Th 


Copyright  1908 

BIJ 

Paul  Elder  and 

Company. 


Page 

TheBee  -TheBeet-TheBeetle.  t. 

The  /tol The  Pheas-ant .  i. 

The  Bunny— -The  Tunny.  3. 

The  Eel  -—The  Eelephant.  *. 

The  Puss —-The  Octo-pUS.  5. 

The  Gnu The  Newt.  6. 

The  Hare  -The  Harrier.  8. 

The  fipe-jish-The  Seaman  9. 

The  Cow The  Cowry.  /o. 

The  Doe The  Dodo.  11. 

The  Ray— The  "Raven.  n. 

The  Coot-— The  Bandicoot.  14. 

745199 


The  Ape— -The  Grape.  16. 

The  ElK— -The  Whelk.  17. 

The  Cross-Bill-TheSiveet-William.  18. 
The  Pitcher-PianI-Therii/-Catc)ier  19. 
The  flntelope— The  Cantelope.  20. 
The  P-Cock  —-The  p- Cumber  22. 
The  Pen-suin— The  Sword-Jish.23. 
The  Yellow-Hammer-  The  5aw-/ish.a 
The  Pansy.— The  Chim-pansi/.  26. 
Naught Tlr^onciut.  21 

Authors  Aid- end- 'em. 


Good  Mi?  Darwin  once  contended 
That  Beetles  were  jromBees  descended; 
And  as  my  pictures  shotuj  think, 
The  Beet  mast  be  the  missing-link. 
The  Sugar-Beet  and  Honey- Bee 
Supply  the  Beetle's  pedigree: 
The  family  is  now  complete,- 
The  Bee ,  the  Beetle  and  the  Berf. 


Th 


Theflnt  is  known  by  his  ant-ennae, 
Where-as  the  pheas-ant  hasrit  any, 
flnd  that  is  w)\]j  he  wears/mstead, 
/I  small  red  cap  upon  his  head: 
Without  his  Fez, indeed  the  pheasant 
Would  be  quite  bald  and  quite  un- 

_          pleasant. 


~  —  -  y 

The  superficial  naturalists  have 

ojtenbeeia  misled, 

BM  falling  to  dis-crim-mate  betu/een 
J  3  the  tail  and  head: 

Itreallu  is  unfortunate  such 

J         carelessness  prevails, 

Because  the  Bunnies  have  their 
heads  whereTunmeshave  their  tails, 


i! 


The  marked  aversion  which  we  feel, 
When  in  tile  presence  of  the  Eel , 
Mates  many  view  tuith  consternation, 
The  Elephants  front  ele-vation. 
Such  folly  must  be  clearly  due 
To  their  peculiar  point  of  view. 


The  Octo-pus  or  Cuttle-fish ! 
I'm  sure  that  none  oj  us  u/ould  wish 
To  have  him  scuttle 'round the  house, 
Lite  puss,  when  she  espies  a  mouse: 
When  you  secure  your  house-hold  pet, 
Be  very  sure  you  do  not  set 
The  Octo-pus,  or  there  may  be 
Dom-es-tic   in-telis-ltij. 

-5- 


Tln)(c 

The  Gnu  conspicuously  wears 
His  coat  of  ^numerous  bristling  hairs, 
White,as  we  see,  the  modest  Newt 
Of  such  a  coat  is  destitute. 
(Im  onlu  teUing  this  to  you, 
/Ind  it  is  strictly  "entre  gnu .) 
In  point  of  fact  the  Newt  is  nude, 
flnd  therefore  he  does  not  obtrude, 
Put  hides  in  some  secluded  §nook, 
Beneath  the  surface  of  the  brook: 

-6- 


Its  almost  more  than  he  can  bear, 
To  slyly  tate  his  breath  of  air, 
His  need  of  which  is  absolute, 

v  jit* 

Because,  you  see,  he  is  a  DneiL-u 


*TVus  stands  Jor  a\r,  like  aero -static, 
CjreeK-"pneuwo5w-  air-  comp-air  *pieu-matic*! 


-7- 


The  Harrier,  harassed  by  the  Hare, 
Presents  a  picture  of  despair; 
^Itho  as  far  as  Im  concerned, 
'.'.  love  to  see  the  tables  turned 
The  Harrier  flies  u/ith  all  his  migh 
It  is  a  harum-  scar^m  flight; 
Im  not  surprised  he  does  not  care 
To  meet  the  fierce  pursuinsHare 

-8- 


r. 


To  smoke  a  herring  is  to  make 
fl  most  lamentable  mistake, 
Particularly  since  there  are 
The  pipe-jish  and  the  lon§ 

Sea-gar: 
Bear  this  in  mind  when  next 

you  u/ish 

To  smote  (jour  after-dinner  fish. 

-9- 


The  Cowry  seems  to  be, somehow, 
A  sort  of  mouth-piece  for  the  Coiu: 
A  speaking  UXeness  one  might  say, 
Which  IVe  endeavored  to  portray. 


The  Doe  and  her  peculiar  double 
JVo  longer  are  a  source  of  trouble, 
Because  the  Dodo,  it  appears, 
Has  been  extinct  for  many  years. 
She  was  too  proud  to  disembark 
With  total  stransers  in  Noah's  /Me, 
flnd  u/e  rejoice  because  her  pride 
Our  Nature  book  has  simplified. 

-11- 


1* 

The  Raven  is  a  kind  oj  crotu, 
Immortalized  by  Mr.  Poe, 
And  we  are  often  led  astray 
By  its  re  semblance  to  the  Ray; 
The  one  tuhkh  I  denominate, 


Is  termed  by  fisher-men  the 

Sxate; 

I  much  prefer  the  latter  phrase, 
There  are  so  many  Kinds  of  Rays: 
There're  Rays  o]  hope, and  Bays 

.oj  light. 
X Kays,  and  Rays  more 

re-con-dite 

Which, thoujh  of  interest  to  Science 
With  Ravens  have  but  small 

alliance. 


-13- 


donolwlsh  toat-tri-bute 
mportance  to  the  common  Cool, 

)r  mud-hen, whom  most  persons 

scorn, 

te cause  she  chanced  to  be^ 

"Earth-born'! 
[he  small  Australian  Bandicoots 

-14- 


/Ire  said  to  spring  from  Karga-roots, 
Which  roots,  as  you  of  course  foresee, 
/Ire  those  of  their  ancestral  tree, 
The  motto  of  which  vegetable 

Is  just  "0  possum"*(I  am  able). 


X  V?  A 

/•    \_AAs_ x     »\ 


»The  Bandicoot  and  Kangaroo, 
As  well  as  the  Opossum  too  , 
Hre  relatives  because  all  three 
Belong  to  the  same  family  . 

-15- 


The  Apes, from  whom  we  are  descended, 
Hang  apex  down  from  trees  suspended, 
/Ind  since  u/e  find  them  In  the  trees, 
We  term  them  arbor-  iginees. 

We  all  have  seen  the  monKey-  shines, 
Cut  up  by  those  who  pluck  from  vines 
The  Grape  and  then  subject  its  juices 

To  Baccha-nattan  abuses. 
-Ifi- 


A  roar  of  welcome  through  the  u/elkin 
Is  certain  proof  you'll  find  the  Elk  In; 
Bui  if  you  listen  to  the  shell , 
In  which  the  Whelk  is  said  to  dwel 
flnd  hear  a  roar,  beyond  a  doubt 
It  indicates  the  Whelk  is  "out". 


No- body  but  an  imbecile 
Mistakes  Sweet  William  for  Cross  Bill; 
And  even  I  can  scarcely  claim 
The  skill  to  make  them  look  the  same, 

Which  proves  there's  nothing  in    | 

a  name. 


-18- 


The  Pitcher  Rant  we  may  define, 
The  flower  oj  the  base-ball  nine; 
This  name  perhaps  the  plant  belies, 
For  Pitcher  Plants  sometimes  catch  f  lie 
The "fli)1  Catcher  we  educate 
To  firmly  stand  behind  the  plate, 
To  stop,and  treat  with  circumspect^ 
Whatever  comes  in  his  direction. 

-19- 


The  Metope  and  Cantelope 
Lie  side  by  side  upon  the  slope, 
And  careless  persons  might,  I  fear, 
Mistake  the  melon  {or  the  deer. 
Ij  you  unit  tap  the  Cantelope, 
reposing  on  the  ground, 

-20- 


It  does  not  move,  but  just  emits 

a  melon-choly  sound; 
But  should  you  try,  however, 
to  apply  a  stethoscope, 
And  attempt  this  auscultation 
on  the  antlered  Melope, 
Tlnd  should  see  an  imitation 
of  a  very  rapid  jlijht, 
flnd  should  say /'It  is  the  fln- 
telope!  I  think  you  would 

be  right. 


-21- 


M? 

*&<f&jft 


•& 

The  striking  similarity  of  this 

P-p-tiar  pair, 
No  longer  need  en-cumber  us 

or  fill  us  with  despair; 
The  P-Cock  and  the  0-  Cumber 

you  never  need  confus 
If  you  pjy  attention  to  the  Is 

and  mind  your  Ps  and  9>s- 

-22- 


iSunraf 

We  have  {or  many  years  been  bored 
JBy  that  old  saiv  about  the  sword 
Tlnd  pen,  and  now  we  all  rejoice, 
To  see  how  Nature  made  her  choice: 
She  made,  regardless  of  oftendirf, 
The  Sword-jish  mishtier  than  thePensui 


-23- 


The  Saw- Ftsk 

The  Yetioui-Haiwier,orthe  Flicker, 
nore  brieflyfGo1den-win§ed 

Wood-  picker;* 

M\j  drawing  oj  uihich  strMng  bird 
nay  seem  to  you  perhaps  absurd, 
You  even  may  suspect  I  stole 
The  idea  from  some  Totem-pole: 
-24- 


But  when  you  §aze  upon  the  Fish, 
You  lose  all  patience  and  sajfRsh ! 
I  doiit  believe  you  ever  saw 
A  Saw-jish  look  like  this,  Oh  Pshau/ ! 
There  certainlij  is  some  mistake, 

This  is  a  saw-did  Nature  fake, 
In  fact  a  perfect  cata-clysm 
Of  fishy  Yetlow-journalismr 


I 

u         ^ 

)bserve  how  Natures  necromancies 
lave  clearly  painted  on  the  Pansies 
these  almost  human  counte-nances, 
[n  yellow,  blue  and  black  nu-ances. 
The  face,hou/ever,  seems  to  me 
To  be  that  of  the  Chimpanzee, 
A  fact  which  makes  the  gentle  Pansy 
Appeal  no  longer  to  my  fancy. 

-26- 


[he  Arsonaul  or  Nautilus , 
th  habits  quite  adventurous, 
combination  oja  snail, 
jelly-fish  and  paper  sail, 
Fhe  parts  oj  htm  that  did  not  jell 
Rre  packed  securely  in  his  shell . 
[t  is  not  strange  thai  u/hen  I -sought 
Co  find  his  doable,  I  found  naught 

-27- 


Ij  you  have  read  my  former  words, 
And  learned  to  recognize  the  Birds, 
flnd  how  to  tell  them  from  Iheflowen 
flnd  know  these  Analogues  of  ours, 
You  never  need  be  led  astray 
By  Daruin,fludubon,or  Gray , 
Whose  writinftthoush  considered  classic, 
Savor  some-ujhat  of  the  Jurassic. 
Your  work  though  is  but  just  begun, 
While  mine,  fm  §lad  to  say,  is  done. 
To  you  the  field  I  now  leave  clear, 
Upset  my  ink, and  disappear! 

-28- 


L  ««  OF  «  ««• 


i  •      •  YC   16744 


745199 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


